The Thai parliament gave its first reading agreement to same-sex marriage on Wednesday June 15, an important step for the very visible LGBTQ + community but still the victim of strong discrimination in the conservative kingdom.
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The lower house has approved consideration of several bills: two allow same-sex marriage and two others allow only simple civil unions.
A parliamentary committee will examine them in detail, then the deputies, after a long legislative process, will decide between the two options.
A small group of activists have already welcomed this milestone for the LQBTQ+ community by gathering in front of parliament.
Some, in tears, waved rainbow flags.
"
I'm very happy, it's a good sign, MPs are finally voting for equality
," LGBTQ+ activist Nada Chaiyajit told AFP.
“
But there is still a long way to go
.”
A very conservative kingdom
The kingdom, with a Buddhist majority, remains very conservative.
“
On the ground, there is still a lot of work to do to change mentalities and convince parliamentarians
,” reacted Ryan Figueiredo, representative in Thailand of the Equal Asia foundation (Equality Asia).
He worries that parliamentarians may end up approving only civil unions, which do not confer the same rights as same-sex marriage.
“
It would only be a meager consolation prize that would amount to making the LGBTQ+ community a completely separate class
,” he warned.
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In early June, Thailand celebrated its first LGBTQ+ pride march in nearly 16 years, with thousands of activists pouring into the streets of the capital to demand the adoption of same-sex marriage, among other things.